Collaboration Software Basics from Salesforce.

Here are steps to getting started along with some collaboration software basics so you can get you up and running with Salesforce Chatter enterprise social network solution. With this Chatter enterprise collaboration user guide you’ll be able to start working together seamlessly across departments, sync with your team, and keep your business moving from any mobile device.

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Turn it on!

Your system admin actually turns on Chatter for your company. Once that’s done, go to the “Chatter” tab on the main Salesforce page and then navigate to the “People” tab to start inviting people to Chatter. Use email addresses or names to find the colleagues you’d like to invite* and hit send.

* Note: You can only enter email addresses for your company’s supported domains.

You’re ready to connect with people on your verified company email list. Keep in mind, public email domains such as hotmail.com, yahoo.com, or gmail.com are not accepted for the free trial.

Getting started tips.

Watch a quick video.

This video takes you through the basics of getting started with Chatter, like how to set up your profile, update your status, and join groups.

Fill out your profile.

Upload a picture: Help co-workers put a face to a name. After logging in to Salesforce, click your name to go to your profile page, then click “Upload Photo” to replace the icon with a photo that looks more like you.

Remember, Chatter is a business tool, so choose a photo you don’t mind showing to everyone from your boss to the CEO.

Fill out “About Me&rdquo: This is your chance to introduce yourself to your company. You may want to include your department, your areas of expertise, an overview of your job, and other professional details.

Follow relevant people and data.

Keep up with what your co-workers are doing by following everyone who is important to you. Start with your team, your manager, and key executives. Click the “People” tab to find colleagues you want to keep up with. Their updates will start appearing in your home page feed.

You can follow any records enabled by your Chatter administrator, like accounts, contacts, opportunities, cases, or custom objects. Every page has a “Follow” button, making it super easy to stay on top of the things you care about.

Join or create groups.

In the “Groups” tab, browse through the groups your colleagues have created and join the ones that match your interests.

Don’t see a group that’s a match for you? You’re probably not alone. Start your own group by clicking the “New Group” button.

Post your first status update.

In the text box at the top of the home or profile page, type a short sentence or two about what you’re working on. You can even attach a relevant link, document, or photo.

Upload and share files.

Collaborate on documents, presentations, and digital media.

The “Files” tab is like your personal USB drive in the cloud. Here you can upload files so they’re accessible through any browser.

You can privately share and collaborate on files with certain people or share something publicly so everyone in your Chatter network can see it. Instead of emailing large files to your team, post them to Chatter and get all the feedback in one place.

Helpful hints.

If you create a public group, anyone can join, and posts can be seen by whoever views the group.

Posts made in a private group can only be seen by members who have been added by the group owner.

If you make a post on a record (account, opportunity, etc.), only users who have full or read access to that record can see your post.

Post “up the chain” to reach a broader audience. For example, if you manage a product datasheet and want to let all your sales reps know about a new version, post the updated file to someone many sales reps follow on Chatter, like a director or VP of sales.

Chatter etiquette.

Become a Chatter expert with these guidelines and tips. Also be sure to read your company’s conduct policy for more information.

DO

Participate by asking and answering questions and sharing information

Keep your posts relevant to work

Keep it brief

Post rather than send a “low-priority” email

Use Chatter to address a wider audience and get feedback

Use groups rather than email distribution lists for collaboration

Post files instead of emailing attachments

Think about who can see your post (anyone who is following a person or a record can see its Chatter posts)

DON’T

Post anything you wouldn’t want your HR team or executives to read

Write long-winded posts

Use Chatter to replace an in-person conversation

Post confidential information on profiles or public groups

Post personal messages that aren’t relevant to your business

Post the same thing to multiple people

Best practices.

Tips for making the most of Chatter.

Understand who sees what.

Anyone at your company can see what you post on the “Chatter” tab, on your profile page, and in a public group. However, the posts you make on records, like accounts and opportunities, are only visible to those who have access to that record. The same applies for private groups: Only people who are members of a private group can view posts made to that group.

Control your email notifications.

Chatter sends you email notifications based on your email settings. To change your email settings, navigate to Setup > Personal Setup > My Chatter Settings > Chatter Email Settings. You can also control the frequency of notifications for your private and public groups on that page.

Know what you’re following.

Every so often, review the people and records you’re following, and which groups you’re part of to make sure everything is still relevant.

Take advantage of Chatter recommendations.

Chatter is a great application for discovering things you didn’t know about, such as projects, marketing campaigns, big deals, or interesting discussions. Use the “Recommendations” on the right hand side of the Chatter tab to discover new things that will help make your job easier.

Use @mentions.

Use @mentions to loop people into conversations. Maybe you want to notify a co-worker about a deal or a project, or simply give someone some kudos for a job well done.

Sharing information.

Share information more effectively with your co-workers.

Post an update.

Using status updates you can quickly post a file, link, or update that all of your followers will see in their Chatter feeds. Other people in your company can then comment on your post and engage in a conversation right in the feed.

Post a file.

Posting a file is simple. Click on the file icon near where you would write posts and upload a file. When you want to replace a file with a new version, make sure it has the identical file name as the old version. Chatter will then revise the name and save a previous version. People with whom you’ve shared the file can download it, edit it, and upload a revised version.

Join and create groups.

Collaborate and share information in one central location.

Chatter groups reduce email, make collaboration easier, take project management to another level, and are a great way to keep up with your team. Here are some groups that have been successful at other companies. Remember, groups can be either public for every employee or private for select people.

All company (public)

Add all employees to this group to discuss company-wide topics and make announcements.

My team (private)

Add team members to this group to discuss projects you’re working on, give feedback, and share presentations, spreadsheets, and documents.

Competitive (public)

Connect customer-facing employees with competitive and product experts in your company to crowdsource answers and beat the competition.

Product feedback (public)

R&D and engineering teams love Chatter because they can get feedback from sales and customer service on what clients are saying about their products.

Human Resources (private)

Customer meetings (private)

Create groups where all the key players on a deal can collaborate more easily on presentations, agendas, and products. For example, start a group for a customer visit called “Acme July Meeting” and invite sales, technical specialists, marketing, support, and engineering to align everyone.